ProtoStar Social Issues Series

In 2024, ProtoStar established an exciting new series entitled the “ProtoStar Social Issues Series” at the North Coast Repertory Theatre (“NCRT”).  As its name suggests, the Series will enable the students at NCRT’s Theatre School to explore various social issues raised by the plays that they study and perform.

Each year, the Theatre School’s Program Director will select one play for intensive study by the Theatre students.  For 2025, the Program Director identified the play The Apocalypse Project, written by Briandaniel Oglesby.  The premise of the play is that everyone over the age of 20 had mysteriously disappeared four years before, but no one knew why.[1]  When the protagonist was rejected by her friends, she joined a group of exiles on a trek across the “broken land” to find the rumored “New Eden.”  “This is a play about what happens when the young are left to deal with the disasters in a world they didn’t create.”[2]

The play raises such social issues as mental health, environmental conservation, and youth empowerment.  To help the Theatre School students explore such issues, ProtoStar’s Grant will offer the following opportunities:

• • A private virtual discussion with the playwright, which for this upcoming play would be Briandaniel.

  • Discussions led by speakers from different organizations during.

  • Post-performance talkbacks with guest speakers from partner organizations.

To enhance the students’ appreciation for the social issues raised by The Apocalyse Project, the Theatre School would partner with such organizations as Eco San Diego, San Dieguito River Park, San Diego Coastkeeper, San Diego Center for Children, San Diego Youth Services, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Say San Diego, County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, the North County Climate Change Alliance, and the Surfrider Foundation.

The Grant will also enable the Theatre School to research and develop dramaturgical study guides and public displays for the production.  Finally, a portion of the Grant will be used to subsidize the costs of the tickets for outside students who may not be able to afford the cost of the tickets.

For more information, please contact North Coast Repertory Theatre.

[1] https://briandanieloglesby.com/plays-for-teens/the-apocalypse-project/.

[2] Ibid.